STILLWATER — When Mike Gundy wanted to overhaul the Oklahoma State offense three years ago, he hired a seasoned expert in the Air Raid spread system in Dana Holgorsen, who left Stillwater after one season to become the offensive coordinator and head-coach-in-waiting at West Virginia.

That lack of experience at the Football Bowl Subdivision level may make Yurcich an out-of-the-box choice. But his offensive philosophy does not.

At Shippensburg, he installed a pass-heavy system that led Division II in total offense (529.92 yards per game) and ranked in second in passing offense (387.69 yards per game) and scoring offense (46.85 points per game). Quarterback Zach Zulli won the Harlon Hill Trophy, Division II’s equivalent of the Heisman, after throwing for 4,747 yards and 54 touchdowns.

Gundy has long stressed that the Cowboys’ overall scheme would not change with a new coordinator, meaning he would hire someone who either has a background running that system (Holgorsen) or would be willing to learn and run it (Monken).